VP Joe Biden to campaign in Syracuse for U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei

Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Syracuse on Monday to headline a campaign rally for U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei. It will be Biden's only New York campaign stop for the day. Biden, a graduate of Syracuse University's law school, showed off his school colors Sept. 9, 2009 before leading a discussion on college access and affordability inside SU's Goldstein Auditorium.

(John Berry | The Post-Standard 2009)

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Vice President Joe Biden will make a stop in Syracuse next week to headline a campaign rally for U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei, a White House official said today.

Biden will appear at 1 p.m. Monday at Syracuse Hancock International Airport for a campaign event that will be open to the public, the official said. Ticket information has not yet been determined.

The White House said the Syracuse trip will be the only Biden campaign visit planned Monday in New York, where several Democrats are locked in tight battles with Republicans for House seats.

Several polls have shown Republican John Katko, of Camillus, in striking distance of Maffei, D-Syracuse, in the 24th Congressional District.

Biden, a 1968 graduate of Syracuse University's law school, visited Central New York on Saturday in an unannounced trip to attend calling hours in Skaneateles for his late wife's aunt, Grace Parcells.

Biden has never forgotten his Syracuse roots, and has returned to the region often as both a U.S. senator from Delaware and as vice president. His ties to the area are linked to his late wife, the former Neilia Hunter, of Auburn, who died in a car accident in 1972.The couple lived in Syracuse when Biden was a student at SU law school and his wife taught at Bellevue Elementary School.

Since he was elected vice president in 2008, Biden has returned to Central New York at least five times for a wedding, funerals and official events. He returned to Auburn this summer for the wedding of his niece, Marren Hunter.

Biden has been on the campaign trail helping out several other Democrats facing tough races in the midterm elections. Last week, Biden stopped in Oregon to campaign for Sen. Jeff Merkley, whose seat is considered a must-win for Democrats who want to hold onto control of the Senate.